


She may be the brightest, but not the most observant

by BexYZ



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Oblivious Hermione Granger, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Yule Ball (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:15:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29535315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BexYZ/pseuds/BexYZ
Summary: Someone has a crush. Literally everybody knows it except Hermione. Exasperated friends abound.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 9
Kudos: 98





	She may be the brightest, but not the most observant

It had been a hard transition back to Hogwarts after everything that had happened. The castle looked as it always had. There were maybe a few walls that looked slightly newer than their surrounding neighbors and some new paintings had been hung in place where others had been destroyed, but there were no obvious signs of a struggle in the castle much less a war.

Hermione had jumped at the opportunity to continue her schooling for a specially-designed eighth year, replacing the farce of an education that had been offered previously by the Carrows. She guessed that about half of their cohort had come back for the additional year, Harry included (though Hermione was fairly sure his attendance was all due to Ginny and not his own academic aspirations). Ron had decided to take a year off before he and Harry started training at the Ministry. After an awkward summer together, they had decided that they were much better as friends than anything more and had amicably gone their own ways. Hermione was glad that they hadn't let the situation affect their friendship. They may not have had that spark she was hoping for, but Hermione couldn't imagine a life without Ron in it.

Trying to bring a sense of holiday cheer, the staff and prefects had decided to host another Yule Ball over break. This Christmas would be the first for many of the students without at least one member of their family, with some having no real home to return to at all. The Ball was a way to encourage people to stay at school without it feeling like their only option. With only a week left before the end of term, the Great Hall buzzed with excitement as people tried to find dates, finalize outfits, and plan how to sneak some drinks in without the professors finding out.

Hermione was enjoying her planning session with the girls. With Ron away and Harry with Ginny most of the time, Hermione had found herself surrounded by the remaining seventh and eighth year girls more often than she had in the past. Tonight, though, Ginny had been able to break away from her boyfriend to join Hermione with Luna, Parvati, Padma, Hannah, and Pansy to discuss dress, makeup, and hair options before the big day. Pansy had been a recent addition to their circle, joining them after she had (somewhat surprisingly) started seeing Neville. They were a good fit, with his more gentle personality tempering her emotionality and her extroversion bringing him out of his shell. She was also very well-versed in fashion, which didn't hurt in this instance either.

"Now Hermione, I know you were leaning towards the empire waist," Pansy was saying, "but I really think you should consider a more body-con fit. You could certainly pull it off." She held up one of her own dresses against Hermione's shoulders to try and visualize the look.

"I'm not really sure that's 'me,'" Hermione said, a faint blush to her cheeks. "I usually like leaving a little more to the imagination," she added as Pansy forced her into the dress and she looked at herself in the mirror. The dress hugged her tightly, showing off the curves she usually hid beneath robes and baggy jumpers. The halter neckline dipped lower than anything found in Hermione’s own wardrobe. 

"Oh, stop. You look fantastic, Hermione!" Ginny squealed. "Forget conservative. It's our last year at school and we're all of age anyway. Let's live a little!" She was embodying her own advice, zipping up a strapless sequined gown with a slit presumably geared towards making Harry’s eyes fall out of his head.

"It really is a beautiful dress," Luna agreed, dreamily, twirling around in a shorter dress with a floaty chiffon skirt. 

"Okay, now that that's settled," Pansy said authoritatively over Hermione's protests, "we need to choose the color." Hermione used her wand to change the dress to a pretty lilac color before Pansy and Ginny both rolled their eyes.

"Nope. It's time to be daring! And that style dress does not work with pastels anyway." Ginny changed the dress to a dark red.

"Nice, but it's a bit Gryffindor-ish," Pansy said.

"Gryffindor-ish?" Hermione questioned.

"Yes, Gryffindor-ish, and don't interrupt."

Pansy swished her wand and the dress quickly shifted to an emerald green. Hermione studied herself in the mirror before turning to the others.

"I do like the color, but isn't it awfully Slytherin-ish?" she asked, a bit sarcastically.

"Don't be ridiculous, Hermione. Slytherin-ish isn't a word," Pansy replied with a playfully snarky tone. "And anyway, I think it looks lovely on you and sends just the right message to just the right people. Or person." Pansy smirked as she locked eyes with Ginny and Parvati over Hermione's shoulder.

"Message? What message? What person?" Hermione sounded confused as she looked from girl to girl, all of whom seemed to find her reaction amusing.

"Don't worry, Hermione," Luna responded. "Once we get rid of your Wrackspurt infestation, you'll be able to see the obvious again." Hermione wasn't so sure about that.  
___  
Hermione awoke bright and early the next morning, ready to tackle the last week of classes before enjoying her break. She watched snowflakes fall lightly outside her window as she pulled on her robes and headed down to the common room to meet Harry and Ginny. She decided to leave in some of the braids Hannah had woven into her hair the night before as they practiced hairstyles for the Ball. The girl was a miracle-worker, finding a way to work the braids through her hair without taking away all of Hermione's signature curls. Hermione thought controlled chaos was a nice compromise between stuffy updo and tangled rat's nest.

Ginny smiled as she came down the stairs from the dormitory. "I'm so glad you left those in. Everyone is going to love them!"

"Nobody cares how my hair looks," Hermione rolled her eyes good-naturedly at her friend as Harry came up from behind and threw his arm over Ginny's shoulders.

"I wouldn't say nobody cares, Hermione," he smiled at his best friend.

"Fine, you're right. Ginny obviously cares. She just said so."

"That wasn't who I meant," Harry said as Ginny made her way towards the portrait hole ahead of them. "You know that… um, _I_ obviously think your hair looks great this way!" he finished lamely as Ginny shook her head behind Hermione's back.

Hermione looked at Harry strangely. "Um...thanks. I guess?"

Harry nodded and hurried after Ginny. Hermione was busy planning out her study schedule for the last week in her head as they descended the last staircase to the Great Hall for breakfast, but her two friends' whispering pulled her brain out from its planning.

"I really don't think she has any idea. I stopped you because I really think she needs to figure it out on her own."

"But...it's obvious, isn't it?"

"Hon, if even you figured it out, it's obvious all right."

Hermione wondered if maybe for once she was too distracted with studying.  
___  
Hermione found a seat next to Neville at breakfast and started spooning preserves onto her toast. Neville was telling her all about the new plants Professor Sprout had imported from France for the NEWT level Herbology classes and Hermione couldn't help but smile at her friend's enthusiasm. He'd grown so much more confident in the last year and she enjoyed listening to someone else who was as passionate about their favorite subject as she was about her own.

She had been looking at Neville and didn't realize at first that she had gotten some of her preserves on her hand. Absent-mindedly she lifted her finger to her mouth and licked the offending drop off of her first finger. Then she turned to look over her shoulder.

"What is it, Hermione?" Neville asked, following her gaze.

"I'm not sure, but Malfoy's been staring at something back there for a while and I was just trying to figure out what it was. Maybe Luna got new radish earrings or something and I just missed her." Hermione turned back to the table and sucked the bit of preserves off her other other finger while Neville gave her a confused look.

"That's not what he was looking at," Neville said carefully as if he were explaining a basic levitation spell to a first year.

"Oh, did you see what it was?" she asked brightly.

Neville saw Ginny shake her head and drop her face in her hands with exasperation behind Hermione. Neville just shrugged.

"It was nothing, Hermione. Never mind."  
___  
Hermione had been paired with Theo Nott and Pansy for their final Transfiguration project and they were poring over their notes in the library a couple of days before the project was due. She was jotting down the name of another reference book to search for when Draco Malfoy stopped by their table to speak to Theo. After they confirmed details about Quidditch practice later, Malfoy turned to the girls to include them in the conversation.

"I presume Pansy's gotten the entire group of seventh and eighth year girls set for the Ball this weekend?"

"You better believe I have, Draco," she said smugly. "And I think you'll find _everyone's_ outfits will be quite to your liking," she added, raising her eyebrows and fixing him with a knowing look. She and Theo snickered as Draco's ears took on a faint pink tinge.

"Ooh...do you have your eye on someone, Malfoy? Is it Padma? She and Parvati are both very pretty but Padma is a little more down-to-earth. Parvati can be a little flighty. Oh, or maybe Hannah?" Hermione squinted her eyes and stared off in the distance trying to think of who else Pansy might be referring to.

Draco looked at her with his mouth slightly open before exchanging looks with his fellow Slytherins. Pansy rolled her eyes and Theo just lifted his shoulder in a half-shrug.

"I've got it! It's Luna!"

"Don't worry about it, Granger. You'll find out soon enough, I expect," Theo said.

"We hope," muttered Pansy under her breath.  
___  
It was finally the night they had all been waiting for and Hermione was brimming with excitement. She had finally gotten comfortable with her dress and she couldn't stop staring at how shiny and pretty her hair looked after Hannah had gotten done with it. She entered the Great Hall and gasped. The entire room was lit with fairy lights and tiny snowflakes glittered as they floated through the air, looking as though they were made of real silver.

Hermione stopped by the drink table to pick up a glass of punch before anyone could sneak some Firewhiskey into it and looked around for her friends. She spotted Harry and Ginny on the dance floor and Harry waved before spinning around with his girlfriend again. Hermione set off in their direction before she was intercepted by a tall man in charcoal gray.

"Hello."

Hermione looked up to meet his eyes. "Oh hello, Malfoy! Are you looking for Pansy? She said she and Neville would be right down."

Malfoy closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath as if searching for some semblance of patience. 

"No, Granger," he said, shaking his head. “I was looking for you."

"For me?"

Malfoy ran a hand down his face. "You may be the smartest witch in our year, but you are certainly the most unobservant."

"Excuse me? Were you just looking for me to tease me?"

"No, no. I'm sorry." Hermione started at his apology. Malfoy rubbed a hand against the back of his neck. "Just, Merlin, I'm just going to say it. I fancy you, Hermione. And I haven't been particularly good at hiding it. Pansy said if I didn't finally ask you to dance with me tonight, she was going to charm a sign to follow you around that said 'Malfoy likes Granger' until you got the hint."

Hermione's mouth opened slightly and she stared at the gray-blue eyes looking back at her, vulnerable and slightly embarrassed.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Hermione finally shook the surprise out of her brain and fixed Draco with a Gryffindor-brave smile. "So are you going to?"

"Going to what?"

"Ask me to dance."

Malfoy smiled. "May I have this dance?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"Yes."

They were both flushed but grinning as they joined Harry and Ginny on the dance floor.

“I do like the green dress,” Draco grinned as Hermione blushed. “Pansy has good taste, doesn’t she?” 

The witch in question huffed as she and Neville entered the crowd after them.

"Finally!"

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this silliness! :)
> 
> Comments/comaraderie appreciated!


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